This summer, a great way to support nursing will hit the streets — a new specialty nurse license plate.

“This is a great way to honor nursing, whether you are a nurse, know a nurse, like a nurse or just respect the profession,” said Georgia Barkers, Ed.D., MBA, MHA, BSN, RN-BC, NEA-BC, president of the Georgia Nurses Foundation. “After years of planning, designing and working through the process, we are so excited and can hardly believe that it is finally happening.”

Who knew that a license plate could involve so much red tape? Barkers said the Georgia Nurses Association (GNA) and the Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF) had been talking about a license plate long before she joined the foundation as director of leadership development four years ago.

The design, which includes a red Florence Nightingale lamp logo (borrowed with permission from the American Nurses Association) and the phrase, “Nurses Save Lives,” was selected by the GNA Convention and Membership Assembly in Athens in 2009.

“This year, the Georgia Legislature passed HB 732, which dedicated a portion of the funds derived from the sale of specialty nurse license plates to the Georgia Nurses Foundation,” Barkers said. “The money will help the foundation do more things for Georgia nurses.”

Barkers noted that the money received from by GNF from specialty license plate sales would go toward nursing scholarships and for workforce planning and development.

The 2013 state budget allocates $27,000 in new funding for the RN Workforce survey. Experts agree that more data on the nursing population is needed in Georgia.

“Once we have more data on the status of nurses in Georgia, we can do a better job of planning health care needs for the state,” Barkers said.

Students have about one more month to apply for Darton College’s first 4-year degree.

Classes in the new Nursing Baccalaureate Degree program start in just four months. Admission will be competitive because the program will start small.

Nursing students working on their associates degree at Darton are buried in books, studying for exams just two weeks away.

“You have to put a lot of effort into it because you have to put a lot of effort into it to become a good nurse, you basically have to know your stuff,” said Lois Kamau, a Darton College Nursing Student.

Just last month the college was granted initial approval for the Bachelors Program and is working with SACS and other agencies to gain the needed accreditation. Enrollment is underway.

“We’re planning on accepting application through May 15th,” said April Reese, DPN, CNM Darton College Dean of Nursing.

The response has been overwhelming especially from those who’ve graduated from the 2-year program.

“Most of the students I’m advising are former graduates and a lot of them have previous degrees, or bachelor degrees in other areas,” said Tracy Suber, MSN, RN Darton College Assistant Dean of Nursing.

Digging Deeper Darton College has an unheard of 10 professors working on their doctoral degrees. They’re helping to shape what the program will eventually include.

“The board of nursing and our accrediting bodies have certain courses that have to be include and those courses are research, courses in leadership and community health. Apart from that we have some freedom for other courses we want to develop,” said Reese.

As the economy improves more nurses, especially supervisors who’ve held off retirement and faulty will leave the workforce, creating openings for students with advanced degrees.

Earning a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) can be beneficial for professionals in the nursing field who wish to qualify for higher salaries or promotions. These individuals may want to consider enrolling in online nursing degree programs that offer the flexibility that working adults often require.